HRC Blog

The upcoming Virginia and New Jersey elections mean a great deal in the national fight for fairness. While most Virginia eyes are on the Governor’s race, the Human Rights Campaign is also focusing on the battle for control of the House of Delegates.  In 2007, HRC helped elect a fair-minded majority in the Virginia Senate, and this year, the lower House is up for grabs.  By electing a fair-minded majority this year, there will be hope of passing pro-LGBT legislation as opposed to just fighting against anti-LGBT bills.  More importantly, there is the potential impact of having fair-minded majorities in control of the drawing of federal and state legislative lines after the 2010 census.  In New Jersey, HRC has endorsed the reelection campaign of the Garden State Governor Jon Corzine because of his strong support of marriage equality and other LGBT rights.  The expected vote on a marriage bill later this year will have a much better chance for success with a Corzine victory.  Additionally, a mid-Atlantic state with marriage equality will add to the national momentum for marriage.  With all of this in mind, last Friday, HRC National Field Director Marty Rouse and I had the pleasure of traveling out to Gainesville, Virginia (13th House District, covering parts of fast-growing Northern Virginia counties Prince William and Loudoun) to meet with HRC-supported candidate John Bell.

John is running to unseat one of Virginia’s -- and possibly one of America’s -- most anti-LGBT legislators: Delegate Robert Marshall. Marshall has a long record of not just opposing equality and fair-minded legislation, but doing so in a particularly nasty, vociferous manner. For those of you in Virginia, you may recognize Delegate Marshall’s name from his role in authoring and promoting Virginia’s anti-equality “marriage amendment.” The Marshall-Newman Amendment not only enshrined discrimination in Virginia’s constitution by restricting marriage to heterosexual couples, it also went further by banning any legal status “approximat[ing] the design, qualities, significance, or effects of marriage” – thereby banning civil unions, domestic partnerships, or any other attempt lawmakers might make at giving some level of protection to Virginia’s LGBT families. The amendment was ratified by 57% of Virginia voters in 2006. [/caption] John Bell, on the other hand, would be a strong ally to our community and would work towards equality for all Virginians. John understands that Virginians care more about solutions for education funding, transportation woes, and protecting our environment than wasting taxpayer dollars attempting to impose his personal prejudices on the Commonwealth. To get more involved in Virginia, email me at [email protected] to learn about volunteer opportunities in your neck of the woods. To help with HRC’s New Jersey efforts, please contact Anthony Hayes at [email protected].

Paid for by Human Rights Campaign Equality Votes, 1640 Rhode Island Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20036.  Authorized by John Bell, candidate for Delegate and Corzine ’09, Inc.